In 2017 FUEN will again receive at 500,000 Euro funding from the Federal Republic of Germany

After the negotiations inside the budget committee of the German Federal Parliament came to an end last week, the budget rapporteurs decided to adopt the proposal of the government to allocate funding for FUEN of at least 500,000 Euro for the upcoming year.

“This funding was granted in 2016 for the first time through the parliamentary procedure. It is the result of many years of efforts made by FUEN with the help of reliable partners and with the support of our member organisations”, said FUEN Secretary-General Susann Schenk.

Already in the beginning of July, the newly elected President of FUEN Loránt Vincze (elected in May in Wroclaw/Breslau) seizes the opportunity during a first visit to the responsible budget rapporteurs Brandl MP and Gerster MP and to the German Federal Government Commissioner for Matters Related to Ethnic German Resettlers and National Minorities Koschyk MP, to speak with them about longtime collaboration with the Federal Republic of Germany. The stated objective remains obtaining permanent funding in the form of an institutional grant for FUEN.

The financial grant for FUEN consists of funding for the European activities of the largest umbrella organisations of the autochthonous, national minorities, which has its seat in Flensburg/Germany, and also the financial support for the Working Groups of German Minorities inside FUEN. The coordination office established for this Working Group is based in Berlin. 

The conference marking the 25th anniversary of the Working Group of German Minorities consisted of meetings with many high-ranking politicians; especially the meeting with German Chancellor Merkel shows the respect for the German minorities in Europe and the national, transnational and European networking in relation to minority policy.

The media coverage by DW write about the German minorities as a community of solidarity – this is characteristic for the cooperation between the minorities in Europe. 

FUEN is grateful for the respect paid to her, for the funding for the German minorities abroad and for the recognised minorities and regional and minority languages and their official bodies in Germany by the Federal Republic of Germany. Many of their organisations are working united under the European umbrella of FUEN as a community of solidarity. FUEN is pleased with the successes for the year 2017 and looks forward to a fruitful and strategic collaboration.

Links:
Press release Minority Commissioner Koschyk (German)
Press release Bettina Hagedorn MP (German)